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WPRC Woodstock Pistol & Rifle Club

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Project Mapleseed

A full day that will change how you shoot a rifle

Project Mapleseed is a rifle marksmanship program run across Canada by a non-profit, entirely volunteer organisation. A single event — called a “Mapleseed” — is one full day on the range, teaching traditional rifle marksmanship from the three field positions: prone, sitting or kneeling, and standing.

It is not a competition and it is not a test you can fail. It is instruction, and it is aimed squarely at making you a better shot with the rifle you already own.

The organisation describes itself as apolitical. Its stated purpose is teaching marksmanship and safe firearm handling, alongside the place of the rifle in Canadian history.

What makes it different

Two things set a Mapleseed apart from most range instruction.

No bipods, bags or rests. The only support you are permitted is a sling. That sounds harsh, and it is the entire point — with a bipod under the rifle, you never find out how much of your group size is you. Take the support away and every fault in your position becomes visible and fixable. Shooters who go back to a bipod afterwards almost always shoot better with it than they did before.

Everything happens at 25 metres. Mapleseed uses reduced-size scaled silhouette targets, so a target on a 25 metre line represents a full-size target out to 400 yards. You learn to read wind, position and trigger control at distances a club range can actually provide, and the skills transfer straight out to real distance.

The instruction is built around the sling and a concept called natural point of aim — building a position that settles onto the target on its own, rather than one you have to muscle into place and hold there.

The day itself

You will shoot a baseline target first thing, before any instruction, so you have an honest record of where you started. Then the six steps of firing a shot: sight alignment, sight picture, respiratory pause, focus, trigger squeeze and follow through.

Prone comes first — the most stable position, and the best place to learn how body position drives where the bullet goes. That session also covers sighting in a rifle properly, and how to translate what you see on paper into the adjustment you make on the sight.

Sitting, kneeling and standing follow in the afternoon, along with position changes and reloads under time.

At the end of the day you shoot the same baseline target again. Comparing the two is usually the moment the day’s value becomes obvious.

The Rifleman patch

The standard Mapleseed teaches is 4 MOA — putting every shot into a 20 inch target at 500 yards.

Qualification is a 40-shot course worth 250 points. Score 210 or better and you earn the Rifleman patch. That is roughly the standard of a Marksman qualification in the Canadian Armed Forces, and it is deliberately hard. Plenty of people do not get it on their first Mapleseed. Plenty come back.

What to bring

  • A rifle you trust, already sighted in and familiar. Any calibre, any sights, scopes included. A magazine-fed semi-automatic .22 is the most common choice — cheap to feed, no recoil to fight, and simple during the mandatory magazine changes.
  • Two 10-round magazines minimum, four is better.
  • Around 400 rounds. Bring more rather than less.
  • A sling, ideally adjustable with a detachable rear swivel. The M1 Garand and M14 pattern is what you will see most.
  • A shooting mat, carpet, tarp or heavy blanket. You will be on the ground for hours.
  • Eye and ear protection. There may be centrefire rifles beside you.
  • A brimmed hat and long sleeves. Your neighbour’s brass lands on you, and the marks it leaves have a nickname.

Dress for the weather. Mapleseeds run outdoors regardless of it.

Who it is for

Everyone. New shooters, experienced shooters, hunters, young and old. The only real requirements are that you can follow safety commands, safely complete the course of fire, and turn up with what they call a teachable attitude — an openness to trying their method rather than defending your own for the day.

Adapted courses of fire are available for shooters with limited mobility.

Membership

You do not need to be a Project Mapleseed member to attend an event. An annual membership is $50 and supports the organisation’s work, including a youth programme offering subsidised registration, loaner rimfire rifles and, where possible, free ammunition. It includes a patch, a membership card and a $5 discount on event registrations.

Mapleseed at WPRC

  • Do we host Mapleseed events? Yes! We typically run Mapleseed the day after the Guns N Heels event.
  • When is the next one here? Shooting for Jule 30th, 2027
  • How many shooters can we take? We have a large facility, we can take many.
  • Loaner rifles: We have rifles you can borrow, let us know and we can set you up.
  • Who to contact: Paul Lombard – Club Secretary.

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